Sintown Chronicles I: Behind Closed Doors

by David O. Dyer, Sr.

  Her eyes flashed. “Jake has a little problem he discussed with your wife. She thinks it's caused by an emotional blockage and advised him to discuss it with you. She said you used to be a counselor of some kind and highly recommended you. That's why I made this appointment, but I see now it was a mistake. You don't know shit."

  “You're probably right,” he laughed. “I guess the things in your past you are now ashamed of are a bit worse that I thought. Maybe it would help if you were a little more specific."

  “I'm not about to be specific.” Her eyes were still flashing, but she made no move to leave. “I've been a prostitute, a dope peddler and worse. I've done two short stretches in jail. It would kill Jake if he found out."

  “Maybe—if he found out about it from somebody else—but his reaction might be different if the news came from you."

  “Mack, I can't tell him."

  “Does anybody in Dot know about your past?"

  Jan dropped her eyes. “Yes."

  “Then you must tell him."

  She stood up and he followed her lead. “Thank you for your time,” she said coldly.

  “You may pay the secretary on your way out."

  “What?"

  “My counseling fee."

  “I ... I ... what do I owe you?"

  “Nothing."

  “I don't understand."

  “My advice may be worth what it cost you, but at least think about it. Actually, I think there are two things you need to do."

  “You made the first very clear. What's the second?"

  “The second is far more difficult than obtaining Jake's understanding and forgiveness. You must find a way to forgive yourself."

  Chapter Thirty-two

  It was one of those rare days when everything seems to go right. The weather was beautiful and the drive to Winston-Salem was uneventful, but pleasant. Susan Honneycutt quickly found the information she needed in the library of the Wake Forest University School of Law, ran into several favored professors and even ate lunch with two former classmates in the school cafeteria. She visited the Deacon Shop on campus and bought several tee shirts featuring the Demon Deacon football team which already had an impressive season by winning five of it's first seven games. Remembering the beautiful autumn foliage of the maple trees lining Highway 13, she purchased a disposable camera at the College Book Store and, reluctantly, said goodbye to the inspiring steeple of Wait Chapel on the campus quadrangle.

  Driving back to Dot on Interstate 40 Susan switched off the air conditioner of the automobile and rolled down the drivers’ side window to enjoy the fresh cool autumn air. It was shortly after three o'clock when she took the Highway 13 exit.

  A couple of miles down the underused narrow road she pulled to the shoulder and cut her engine. She carefully read the instructions on the disposable camera, slid out of the car and began snapping photographs. She climbed a ten-foot embankment at the side of the road and, reaching the tree line, turned and looked at the breathtaking view. The sun in the western sky glittered its light through the reds and yellows, creating a scene of beauty that Susan hoped would be captured by the inexpensive camera, and she snapped the remainder of her photographs from this vantage point.

  As she carefully began her descent from the top of the bank, a pickup truck pulled in behind her car. The two occupants got out and met her.

  “Looks like ya got a flat,” one of the seedy looking men said.

  Susan shivered at the sight of the man. He was missing several teeth and those that remained were decayed and badly stained with tobacco juice. “No,” she replied, trying to control her voice. “I just pulled over to take some pictures of these trees."

  “No, ma'am,” he drawled, pointing to the left rear tire. “You've got a flat all right."

  “Goodness,” she said looking at the useless piece of rubber. “I must have picked up a nail or something when I pulled onto the shoulder. I have a cellular phone in the car. I'll call the Dot Super Save and have them send someone out,” she said as she moved toward the right front door.

  “No need,” said the man. “Me and Henry'll change the tire fer you if the price is right."

  Before she could decline the offer, he grabbed her neck with his massive left hand, pressing his thumb into her throat. Dropping the camera, she struggled against him, but her verbal protest came out only as a gurgle. He pressed his thumb deeper into her throat and slammed her into the side of the car.

  “Them's purty lips,” he said, pressing his body against the helpless attorney while his friend grinned stupidly. He pressed his open mouth to her tightly sealed lips while groping her breasts and crotch.

  She struggled again and the thumb dug in deeper. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe this was happening in broad open daylight, but she knew what she had to do. She relaxed. It always worked with Vic.

  He ripped open her blouse, spilling buttons on the gravel below, pushed her bra up over her breasts and grabbed her right breast savagely.

  “Them shore is purty titties, Luke,” Henry babbled.

  “Open the back door of her car fer me, Henry."

  “Shit Luke, if you gonna do her, take her up in them woods so's nobody'll see ya."

  “That's a good idea, Henry. Don't you want a little piece ‘o this?"

  “Naw. I jest want her money. You go ahead. I'll keep a lookout fer ya."

  Still holding onto her neck, Luke forced Susan to walk backwards up the incline to the wooded area. One shoe came off in the roadside ditch and the other dropped off just short of the trees where she completely lost her footing.

  Henry grinned as his friend dragged the nearly unconscious woman the last few feet and disappeared into the woods. He rummaged through Susan's car, taking the cash and credit cards from her purse and putting her cellular telephone in the pickup. He spat out the spent wad of tobacco and began chain-smoking cigarettes. He paced back and forth nervously.

  A passing car slowed.

  “Need any help?” the diver called out.

  “Naw, but thanks man,” Henry shouted back.

  He lit another cigarette. It's taking too long, he thought. Bitch must be giving him a hard time.

  “Oh, shit,” he said aloud as he spotted the silver and black patrol car, blue lights flashing as it eased to a stop behind the pickup. He reached in the car, pulled the keys from the ignition, and kicked the camera under the car.

  “Jest a little flat tire, officer,” he said as he walked to and unlocked the trunk.

  “I can call for help if you need it,” the trooper said.

  “Naw, but thanks.” Henry lifted the false floor of the trunk and began unscrewing the nut holding the spare tire in place. “They shore do make these spare tires little anymore, don't they?” he joked.

  The trooper nodded and walked slowly around Susan's car, noting the open purse on the front seat, the buttons in the gravel, the edge of a camera under the car and a woman's shoe in the ditch. “I see two vehicles but only one person,” the trooper said to Henry.

  “Yes, sir,” Henry said, putting the jack in place. “The driver said he has important business in Dot. He give me twenty dollars to change his tire and hitched a ride with another fella that stopped to help."

  “Sure you don't want me to call somebody for you?"

  “Naw, man. Piece ‘o cake."

  The trooper went back to his car and surveyed the scene as he fastened the seatbelt. He noticed another shoe near the top of the bank and a depression in the weeds near the tree line. He pulled out onto the highway and headed towards Dot, giving Henry a salute as he passed. As soon as he was out of sight he eased to the side of the road and spoke into his microphone. “I need backup, fast."

  “Shit, that was close,” Henry mumbled as he lit another cigarette. “Come on, Luke. How many times you doin’ the bitch?” He propped against the front of the pickup, but then, thinking the trooper might make a U-turn and come back, he resumed the tire changing routine.

  Once the s
pare was in place, Henry tossed the flat tire and jack into the trunk. “Man, we gotta get outta here,” he grumbled and he went in search of his friend.

  Following crushed undergrowth, he found them in a small clearing, a hundred yards from the road. Susan's torn clothing littered the area. She was lying naked on her stomach with Luke, pants around his ankles, pumping away from behind.

  “Come on, Luke,” Henry begged quietly, “we gotta get outta here."

  Luke continued as if he hadn't heard Henry until he moaned lewdly and pulled his swollen penis out of her rectum. He scrambled to his feet and pulled up his pants while Susan lay motionless at his feet. “She's really a good lookin’ piece ‘o ass,” he said. “I wanna show you somethin',” he said, pulling Susan to her knees by her hair. “Is that a fine piece ‘o ass, or what?"

  Bruises, dead leaves, pine needles and dirt clung to her body. Henry stared at the matted blood on her pubic hair and staining her thighs. “Shit, man,” he said. “You done fucked a virgin."

  “Tightest pussy I ever had,” Luke grinned. “Almost as tight as her butt-hole, and look at this.” He ran his finger over Susan's lips. “Suck my finger, bitch,” he demanded, tightening her hair twisted in his fist. She did. “Ain't that a purty little mouth on her? I saved that fer you, Henry."

  “Shit, may as well,” Henry said, unzipping his pants.

  “Come on, bitch, suck his thang,” Luke commanded. “Suck it good, damn it. Suck it. Suck it. I wanna hear ya suckin’ it. I wanna see your throat moving. Suck that thang, honey. Use your tongue. Rub your tongue under his thang while you suck him off, bitch. Is she using her tongue on you, Henry?"

  “Yeah, Luke, she's doing real good."

  “Ram it down her throat, Henry. She loves it. Ram it down her fuckin’ throat."

  “Toooooo laaaate."

  Henry staggered back and looked at his semen dripping from the woman's lips. “Luke, we gotta get outta here,” Henry said, zipping up his pants. “A state trooper stopped a little while ago. He may come back."

  “Why the hell didn't ya tell me?"

  “What we gonna do with the woman? She can finger us."

  Luke grinned at Susan, twisting her hair tighter. “She ain't gonna tell nobody, are ya sweetheart?"

  She shook her head negatively.

  “That's a good girl,” he said, and he slammed his fist into her jaw. She crumpled to the ground.

  “You move a muscle and I'll blow your fucking heads off."

  Luke and Henry's eyes filled with terror. State troopers and sheriff deputies surrounded them, weapons drawn.

  Susan did not see her rescue. She did not see the state trooper tenderly cover her with a blanket. She did not see the tears that stained his cheeks. She did not hear his apology for being too late. She did not know when the Dot Rescue squad slipped her onto a stretcher and loaded her into an ambulance. However, when she woke up in her sister's clinic, she knew someone had saved her life.

  * * * *

  “Baby,” Vic cried as soon as Susan opened her front door. “Oh, Susan, baby, I'm so sorry.” She allowed his embrace but did not return it.

  He stroked her hair as she lay her cheek on his shoulder. “Susan, I'm so sorry. I was out of town. I came as soon as I heard."

  “There's nothing you could have done. I'm all right."

  “You're not all right, Susan. Mary Lou said it was a viscous assault. You should be at the clinic, or at least at your sister's house."

  “That's what Mary Lou said. You're both wrong. It happened. It's something I'll ... we'll have to live with."

  She pulled away from him. “Want something to drink?"

  “Yeah, I'll fix it. You sit down and rest."

  They sat beside each other on the sofa sipping their drinks. The TV flickered in the corner with muted sound. “They say it helps to talk about it,” he said at last.

  “I was raped—vagina, anus and mouth. You want to hear details?"

  “Honey,” he said reaching for her. “That's not what I meant."

  “Their dicks were bigger than yours—lots bigger—longer, fatter—filthy. It hurt like hell.” She pulled away from him and saw the pained look on his face. “I'm sorry Vic. I forgot that men are sensitive about the size of their penises. I meant it as a compliment. They hurt when they were inside me. Your size is perfect. It won't hurt."

  She stood up and walked to the bar to pour another drink. He noticed her limp.

  “Did I like it?” she said. “Hell no, I didn't like it. My first sexual experience—a dick in my pussy, my asshole and my mouth and I didn't like any of it.” She looked at Vic, still sitting on the sofa. She felt sorry for him. “I'm saving that for you. That was one thing they couldn't take away from me,” she said with expressionless eyes.

  He crossed the room, took the glass and folded her in his arms. She rested her hands gently on his buttocks.

  “I've made so many mistakes, Vic."

  “Susan, you couldn't help what happened."

  “I'm not talking about that,” she said. “Vic, you still want to get married Christmas Eve?"

  “You bet,” he answered eagerly.

  “Well,” she said. “We'd better get busy. We have less than two months to plan it."

  “You mean it, Susan?” He wanted to kiss her lips, but she did not turn them to him. He settled for her forehead.

  “Yes, I mean it."

  They went to the kitchen table and began to make notes—a wedding “to do” list. It helped to take their minds off things until Susan yawned. “That stuff Mary Lou gave me is kicking in. I had already taken it when you arrived. It's time for me to go to bed."

  “Okay, honey, but I'm not going to leave you alone tonight. I don't care what you say. I'll sack out on the sofa."

  “No you won't. I want you to sleep in my bed with me. I want you to fuck me."

  “What?"

  “You heard me. You've wanted to get into my panties since you first met me. Well, tonight's the night."

  “Susan, you were so set on saving that for our wedding night."

  “Another mistake. There's nothing left to save. I wanted you to be my first and only. My stupid fixation with being a virgin on our wedding night robbed you of being the first, but I'll never deny you again."

  “I'll sleep on the sofa,” he said softly.

  She pushed away from the table and focused her sleepy eyes on him. “I guess you don't want me now that I'm damaged goods.” She looked away.

  He rushed to her and grabbed her hands. “Bullshit on the damaged goods. You know me better than that. I'm just helping you keep your dream alive. You're still a virgin, Susan. It was a forced physical assault. You haven't made love to anyone yet. I can still be your first and it can still be on our wedding night."

  The tears finally came and she melted into his arms. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom where he gently laid her on the bed. “Goodnight, Susan. I love you with all my heart,” he said and he kissed her lightly on her bruised lips.

  She grabbed his hand and held it tightly. With a groggy voice she said, “You're forcing me to tell you the whole truth. I may be pregnant, Vic. I'm not on the pill. I didn't think there was any reason for birth control yet. Abortion is a woman's choice, but I will not take this little life if it exists. It did not ask to come into being any more than I asked for the rape. I want you to make love to me Vic—tonight. If I am pregnant, we'll never know for sure who the father is."

  He sat on the bed, tempted. He stroked her hair. He watched her begin to unbutton her dress.

  “If you do have a baby, who will your husband be?"

  “You."

  “And whose name will go on the birth certificate as the father?"

  “Yours."

  “And who will be the best father any child ever had?"

  “You,” she said, touching him tenderly on the cheek.

  “Goodnight, Susan."

  Chapter Thirty-three

  “I must say, Jan, that I nev
er expected you to seek my advice again,” said Mack McGee as he welcomed her to his study.

  “Like you said the last time, preacher,” Jan smiled, “your price is right."

  “How are things with you and Jake?” Mack asked as Jan sat on the sofa.

  “About the same. He seemed a little strange when he returned from that buying trip, but that lasted for only a couple of days. The last two weeks have been fairly normal."

  “I take it there is something in particular you want to discuss with me today?"

  “Yes. I don't know exactly how to put it into words, though. I told you a little about myself the last time I was here."

  “I remember, and I assume you still haven't mentioned it to Jake."

  “No, I haven't. I tried, but I just can't bring myself to do it."

  “Has he said anything about marriage again?"

  “He came close one night after we heard that Susan Honneycutt and Vic Kimel are getting married at the Dollar's Christmas Eve party, but he backed off at the last second, thank goodness."

  “Why do you say ‘thank goodness'?” Mack asked. “I got the impression you want to marry him."

  “I do and I don't. It's not fair to him to marry without knowing about my past, and I just can't screw up the courage to tell him. I was wondering if you would tell him for me?"

  “No."

  “I expected you to say that, but I thought you'd be a little more diplomatic about it."

  “Jan, it wouldn't help matters if I told him. It must come from you."

  “You know the kind of person I've been. Compare me with Susan Honneycutt. If ever there was a ‘girl next door', it is Susan, but look at what happened to her. It just isn't right that a sweet innocent girl like that should suffer so, and a no-good slut like me should wind up with a super guy like Jake and live happily ever after."

  “You consider yourself a bad person?"

  “You know I do."

  “You're not."

  “You don't know me.” Jan looked out the window, trying to keep the moisture in her eyes from erupting into tears.

  “True, but I still say you're not a bad person. If you knew me a little better, you'd know that many people consider my theology weird. Be that as it may, I believe that there are no bad people. There are just people who, from time to time, make bad choices. Some people make more bad choices than others do, but we're all capable of dramatic improvement in the choices we make. It appears to me that you have come to a point in your life where you are beginning to make many good choices, and you're finding out that making good choices is sometimes very difficult."